South Korea celebrates 10 years of BTS

FANS of BTS flocked to hotspots around Seoul on Monday to mark the supergroup’s 10th anniversary, with South Korea unveiling a special commemorative stamp series to celebrate.

The group’s fans – known collectively as ARMY – gathered outside the offices of its agency HYBE to take selfies and record TikTok videos in front of a huge mural of the stars being painted on a wall.

Korea Post unveiled a special edition series of stamps in BTS’s honor set to go on sale at post offices Tuesday – the official anniversary of the septet’s debut – having already sold out almost instantly online.

“Obviously BTS [members] are global superstars, but we didn’t expect the stamps to be sold out on the day of the online release,” a Korea Post official told AFP After debuting on June 13, 2013, the group went on to become the first all-

South Korean act to dominate the US and UK charts, raking in billions of dollars and building a global fandom in the process.

“Many ARMY BTS fans have asked for the release of BTS stamps, and we also wanted to issue stamps for these global artists for their 10th anniversary,” Kim Mihwa, Korea Post stamp designer, told AFP

The band – currently on a hiatus, with two members performing their mandatory South Korean military service – released a new digital single last week to celebrate the anniversary.

The single, “Take Two”, is purportedly a nod to the band’s second chapter after a decade as musicians.

Fans from around the world traveled to South Korea to celebrate the anniversary, with the Seoul city government running a special program for the visitors. A handwritten letter by J-Hope, who

Launched in 2005, ABS-CBN’s

Pinoy Media Congress has served communication students and educators nationwide with relevant sessions and informative workshops on various fields and topics in media.

“We hope that you have been empowered to become more passionate and woke, always utilizing your talents and voices for the greater good. Because in the end, it is not about the fancy job titles or the opportunities to rub elbows with the most infl uential. What counts as the real glow-up as a media practitioner is when you can inspire people and shed light on issues that matter,” said Kane Errol Choa , ABS-CBN head of corporate communications.

“You are the future of media and communication. You are the future of PACE. And PMC is one way of making yourself capable and ready for the challenges of the world,” said Mark Lester Chico, PACE president.

Student delegates also enjoyed special performances from ABS-CBN Music artists Kice

So , who serenaded the audience with his latest single “Only Girl,” Angela Ken, who sang her hit song “Ako Naman Muna,” and Maki, who made hearts melt with his performance of “Saan?” Meanwhile, the cast of “Teen Clash” rocked the stage with their performance of “JAM.”

The Pinoy Media Congress has received Awards of Excellence from the Public Relations Society of the Philippines’ Anvil Awards in 2008 and the International Association of Business Communicators Philippines’ Philippine Quill Awards in 2007.

MELBOURNE-RAISED artist Rini is performing in Manila on July 19 at the Samsung Hall in SM Aura Premier. The concert is part of the artist’s Past The Naked Eye 2023 tour.

The R&B singer will kick off the tour in Singapore on July 17 followed by Manila, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, Seoul, and Bangkok.

Since the inception of his musical career, Rini has been endowed with this unique responsibility to share his truth. The artist speaks directly to listeners while wearing his heart on his sleeve, relinquishing control of his emotions in a way that has a liberating effect on people.

Being vulnerable is a heavy cross for Rini to bear but the end result has proven to be cathartic for his creativity, equipping the genre-defying singer with something real to say: “I just want to take my time with songs.”

In 2021, Rini unveiled his 12-track debut album Constellations, an ambient collection of sounds that explore the nuances of love, which garnered praise from media outlets like Complex, Rated R&B, and UPROXX –the latter describing his project as, “an outof-this-world touch to Rini’s music, offering a beautiful love story that any hopeless romantic would die for even though it seems far too good to be true.”

Through a sultry falsetto and soul-stirring voice, the 24-year-old singer revealed an emotional depth in his songwriting that doesn’t feel out of place. His creative process is fluid and impassioned, turning small, mundane details into romantic neosoul fantasies.

As an emerging artist, Rini already has 376 million streams across platforms while averaging 2.2 million monthly listeners on Spotify to date.

Tickets to Past The Naked Eye 2023 went on sale on May 31 via SM Tickets. Visit livenation.ph for more details.